JSngry

Thanks! I'm not at all familiar with Gerard Badini. Is he somebody "worthy of further review"?

I have that one too, Mike, and yes - it is very good!

Got it, and am loving it, but more for the guests. Franz "I Got Drunk!" Jackson is a treasure. And who the hell is Larry Smith? Cat breaks my heart on "Sack Full Of Dreams"! That tune has always been associated w/Jug in my book, and will always be, but this Larry Smith dude really, REALLY feels it. So who is he?

Pretty sure there was a Ray Mantilla's Space Station album from the latter 70s w/steel drums featured. But that. of course, would not be pre-1974.

I don't know, I just have a copy of the cut.

Is that Lafitte playing the Hawkesque tenor on Bridget Bardot's recording of "Everybody Loves My Baby" (the accompaniment is listed as Claude Bolling's orchestra)? A serious question.

Sounds like he's miked or mixed funny. Maybe that was necessary?

Technically, there were 11. Five were the session w/Hubbard & Henderson that made it to the Mosaic.

Add from Session #5: August 1st, 1969 Bennie Maupin-1 (fl, ts) Andrew Hill (p) Ron Carter (ba) Mickey Roker (dm) Plus a string quartet: Sanford Allen, Al Brown, Selwart Clarke, Kermit Moore (v, v, viola, cello) 2. Fragments

Oh HELL yeah!

I don't expect them all to be good. I expect some, maybe even most, to be problematic in one way or another. BUT I DON'T CARE! This is a "silent period" of a major artist, a period that has long had me curious (notably re:Leonard Feather's assertation in the ONE FOR ONE liner notes that this was a "difficult" time for Hill, whatever that may or may not mean...) and the historical importance of these sessions will outweigh any such matters.

I was talking to Bennett Cerf yesterday, and he says that Shrieve is working on Elvin's auto-bigoraphy. It's going to be a coffee table book of color portraits of every car that Elvin's ever owned. As well, there's a special section on cars he's borrowed and/or driven, including the infamous car of Trane's that Elvin wrecked (that specific car is going to be written about by guest author Ashley Kahn, who is entitling the chapter either "A Ride Supreme" or "The Making Of A Wreck Supreme". Mr. Cerf was unable to confirm which it would be.) Lots more interest there than one might initially suspect. You'd be surprised at the things that have gone on between Elvin and cars!

Hey this is charlie. i would like to thank all of yall for your best wishes on my 18th bday. i will be accepting gifts even though they are late, cash is prefered in bills no smaller than 20 thank you

And as far as "Rockin It" and "Five Minutes of Funk", yeah, I DEFINTELY remember those!

Brandon - I can dig that you don't dig those synth sounds. What confuses me is why you don't think they fit on this song. That sound is one of many that are "signature" sounds for Prince from his "glory days" of the 80s. The song is all about the old-school, and it seems to me that Prince is including himself in that group. Therefore, the sounds seem perfectly in context to me. Geez, you couldn't turn on the radio or drive through the hood back then w/o hearing those sounds on sides by Prince, Sheila E, The Time, Vanity, and everybody else. So it seems to me that if Prince wants to do "old school", that those sounds belong. After all, many of his hits that retain appeal for the R&B crowd (and his crossover appeal is something that no doubt creatres different expectations from different audiences, something I think he balances incredibly deftly on this album) are in fact classic funk grooves played with those "cheesy" synths. It's one of HIS sounds from back in the day. His jams from back then are DEFINITELY considered old-school by the younger kids of today. This was driven home to me by a conversation I had w/a co-worker at my straight job, an enterprising hip-hop artist/producer in his mid-20s who's been hustling his wares with a little bit of success. I asked him if he'd heard MUSICOLOGY, and he said he hadn't. I told him that I think he'd dig it, that the grooves were phat and the production worthy of study, and he said it sounded like something he should check out (this guy really wants to develop SERIOUS production skills). Then he said, "Yeah, Prince is BAAAD. I remember jamming to him in preschool!" Gulp...